Anti-war Catholic opponents of the Republican-led war effort believed that the Lincoln administration had gone too far in converting what had been a conservative war to restore the Union “as it was” ...
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Anti-war Catholic opponents of the Republican-led war effort believed that the Lincoln administration had gone too far in converting what had been a conservative war to restore the Union “as it was” to trying to effect a radical and unconstitutional transformation of American society. They feared that the extraordinary measures the Republicans took to enforce the draft, end slavery, and curtail liberties foreshadowed a possible future attack on the Catholic Church itself. Many Irish Catholics took part in the bloody New York draft riots in 1863, violence which many Republicans and Protestants blamed on their religion as well as their politics. Catholic civilians by and large voted for the Democrats in 1864, further cementing their reputation as unpatriotic in the mind of pro-war northerners. For their part, Catholics responded in alarm when editor Horace Greeley assailed their patriotism and worried about the possibility of a future religious civil war.Less

Catholics’ Opposition to the War

William B. Kurtz

Published in print: 2015-12-01

Anti-war Catholic opponents of the Republican-led war effort believed that the Lincoln administration had gone too far in converting what had been a conservative war to restore the Union “as it was” to trying to effect a radical and unconstitutional transformation of American society. They feared that the extraordinary measures the Republicans took to enforce the draft, end slavery, and curtail liberties foreshadowed a possible future attack on the Catholic Church itself. Many Irish Catholics took part in the bloody New York draft riots in 1863, violence which many Republicans and Protestants blamed on their religion as well as their politics. Catholic civilians by and large voted for the Democrats in 1864, further cementing their reputation as unpatriotic in the mind of pro-war northerners. For their part, Catholics responded in alarm when editor Horace Greeley assailed their patriotism and worried about the possibility of a future religious civil war.

This chapter examines African Americans' experiences of night riding in the post-Civil War era. African Americans were on the front lines of the war between southern white Democrats and Republicans ...
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This chapter examines African Americans' experiences of night riding in the post-Civil War era. African Americans were on the front lines of the war between southern white Democrats and Republicans and the Republicans' efforts to create a more inclusive democracy in the South after the Civil War. White southerners resorted to terrorism to roll back black people's newly gained civil and political rights. Drawing on scholarship on trauma and suffering, this chapter considers how the violent insurgency against freedom undermined the ability of African Americans to fashion themselves as free people. It shows that victims of night riding were troubled by psychological and sociological wounds that were deeper than what historians have thus far assumed.Less

The Wounds that Cried Out : Reckoning with African Americans’ Testimonies of Trauma and Suffering from Night Riding

Kidada E. Williams

Published in print: 2015-09-14

This chapter examines African Americans' experiences of night riding in the post-Civil War era. African Americans were on the front lines of the war between southern white Democrats and Republicans and the Republicans' efforts to create a more inclusive democracy in the South after the Civil War. White southerners resorted to terrorism to roll back black people's newly gained civil and political rights. Drawing on scholarship on trauma and suffering, this chapter considers how the violent insurgency against freedom undermined the ability of African Americans to fashion themselves as free people. It shows that victims of night riding were troubled by psychological and sociological wounds that were deeper than what historians have thus far assumed.

An interracial gang of 16 men rode into the small country seat of Jackson, Kentucky, and forcibly took possession of the court house. They were led by William Strong, a local farmer who had been one ...
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An interracial gang of 16 men rode into the small country seat of Jackson, Kentucky, and forcibly took possession of the court house. They were led by William Strong, a local farmer who had been one of eastern Kentucky's most influential Unionists during the Civil War, thereby securing a reputation for theft and terrorism against civilians. Strong's war had primarily been fought in his home territory, a sparsely populated mountain county that, unlike many others in eastern Kentucky, had maintained a staunch pro-Confederate majority. By the 1870s the Democrats who had moved the county in a pro-Confederate direction had regained control.Less

UnReconstructed Appalachia : The Persistence of War in Appalachia

T. R. C. Hutton

Published in print: 2010-05-04

An interracial gang of 16 men rode into the small country seat of Jackson, Kentucky, and forcibly took possession of the court house. They were led by William Strong, a local farmer who had been one of eastern Kentucky's most influential Unionists during the Civil War, thereby securing a reputation for theft and terrorism against civilians. Strong's war had primarily been fought in his home territory, a sparsely populated mountain county that, unlike many others in eastern Kentucky, had maintained a staunch pro-Confederate majority. By the 1870s the Democrats who had moved the county in a pro-Confederate direction had regained control.

This chapter demonstrates how antebellum migration, culture, and politics laid the foundation for the region’s white supremacy, its libertarian proclivities, and its sharp class and racial ...
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This chapter demonstrates how antebellum migration, culture, and politics laid the foundation for the region’s white supremacy, its libertarian proclivities, and its sharp class and racial hierarchies. I argue that a cross-class fear of losing the privileges associated with whiteness drove an antebellum political culture that fostered racial aversion, agnosticism toward slavery, and antipathy toward African Americans and Upper Middle West “Yankees.” These tensions resulted in a remarkably flexible conservative Unionism by 1860.Less

“The Progeny of Jamestown” : Racial Construction and Western Identity on the Dixie Frontier

Matthew E. Stanley

Published in print: 2017-01-15

This chapter demonstrates how antebellum migration, culture, and politics laid the foundation for the region’s white supremacy, its libertarian proclivities, and its sharp class and racial hierarchies. I argue that a cross-class fear of losing the privileges associated with whiteness drove an antebellum political culture that fostered racial aversion, agnosticism toward slavery, and antipathy toward African Americans and Upper Middle West “Yankees.” These tensions resulted in a remarkably flexible conservative Unionism by 1860.

The Purchase was different from the rest of the state for several reasons. Geography, early settlement patterns, trade ties, proslavery Democratic politics, and evangelical Christian religion ...
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The Purchase was different from the rest of the state for several reasons. Geography, early settlement patterns, trade ties, proslavery Democratic politics, and evangelical Christian religion contributed to Purchase secessionism. But the most crucial factor was the growth of an economy rooted in slavery. Statewide, slavery declined after 1830. In 1860, proslavery southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge carried the Purchase, while conservative Constitutional Unionist John Bell carried Kentucky. In early 1861, the Kentucky legislature spurned secession. While some vestiges of Unionism remained in the Purchase, most citizens considered Abraham Lincoln's election grounds for secession.Less

Kentucky's South Carolina

Berry Craig

Published in print: 2014-09-15

The Purchase was different from the rest of the state for several reasons. Geography, early settlement patterns, trade ties, proslavery Democratic politics, and evangelical Christian religion contributed to Purchase secessionism. But the most crucial factor was the growth of an economy rooted in slavery. Statewide, slavery declined after 1830. In 1860, proslavery southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge carried the Purchase, while conservative Constitutional Unionist John Bell carried Kentucky. In early 1861, the Kentucky legislature spurned secession. While some vestiges of Unionism remained in the Purchase, most citizens considered Abraham Lincoln's election grounds for secession.

Kentucky, added more strain to the fraying relationship between Lincoln and his native state. All along, almost all Kentucky Unionists favored a Union with slavery. Nearly every Kentucky soldier in ...
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Kentucky, added more strain to the fraying relationship between Lincoln and his native state. All along, almost all Kentucky Unionists favored a Union with slavery. Nearly every Kentucky soldier in blue was fighting for the preservation of the Union, not for the abolition of slavery. Across the state, thousands of Kentuckians who were prowar turned to the “Peace” Democrats. The Purchase stayed stubbornly secessionist.Less

Traitors Beware

Berry Craig

Published in print: 2014-09-15

Kentucky, added more strain to the fraying relationship between Lincoln and his native state. All along, almost all Kentucky Unionists favored a Union with slavery. Nearly every Kentucky soldier in blue was fighting for the preservation of the Union, not for the abolition of slavery. Across the state, thousands of Kentuckians who were prowar turned to the “Peace” Democrats. The Purchase stayed stubbornly secessionist.

This chapter focuses on one of America's preeminent rabbis, the Reform Jewish leader Isaac Mayer Wise of Cincinnati, and why he sided with the Peace Democrats. Wise arrived in Cincinnati at a time of ...
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This chapter focuses on one of America's preeminent rabbis, the Reform Jewish leader Isaac Mayer Wise of Cincinnati, and why he sided with the Peace Democrats. Wise arrived in Cincinnati at a time of political unrest, as the bitter controversies which preceded the Civil War intensified. Six years before, the Whigs had split on the slavery issue. This chapter considers Wise's views on politics and slavery, abolition and abolitionists, and secession, as well as his reaction to the outbreak of the Civil War and his position regarding the rights of Jews. It also highlights the apparent inconsistency between Wise's attraction to the Republican Party in 1856 and his adherence to the Peace Democrats in 1863.Less

Isaac Mayer Wise and the Civil War

Sefton D. Temkin

Published in print: 2010-05-28

This chapter focuses on one of America's preeminent rabbis, the Reform Jewish leader Isaac Mayer Wise of Cincinnati, and why he sided with the Peace Democrats. Wise arrived in Cincinnati at a time of political unrest, as the bitter controversies which preceded the Civil War intensified. Six years before, the Whigs had split on the slavery issue. This chapter considers Wise's views on politics and slavery, abolition and abolitionists, and secession, as well as his reaction to the outbreak of the Civil War and his position regarding the rights of Jews. It also highlights the apparent inconsistency between Wise's attraction to the Republican Party in 1856 and his adherence to the Peace Democrats in 1863.

This chapter describes events from 1870 to 1871. The Reconstruction process should have been completed by April 1870. Congress had readmitted every state but one. On March 30th, the Fifteenth ...
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This chapter describes events from 1870 to 1871. The Reconstruction process should have been completed by April 1870. Congress had readmitted every state but one. On March 30th, the Fifteenth Amendment was proclaimed the law of the land. However, far from completing its work, Reconstruction threatened to go on forever, with each crisis jerking the federal government further off its foundations and with no prospect of peace in sight. The situation on Georgia showed that all Reconstruction's gains could melt in a moment in their holders' hands.Less

Georgia on Their Minds, 1870 –1871

Mark Wahlgren Summers

Published in print: 2014-10-27

This chapter describes events from 1870 to 1871. The Reconstruction process should have been completed by April 1870. Congress had readmitted every state but one. On March 30th, the Fifteenth Amendment was proclaimed the law of the land. However, far from completing its work, Reconstruction threatened to go on forever, with each crisis jerking the federal government further off its foundations and with no prospect of peace in sight. The situation on Georgia showed that all Reconstruction's gains could melt in a moment in their holders' hands.

This chapter focuses on the progress of Reconstruction in the 1870s. The turmoil in the cotton South had lulled. For anyone possessed of the facts, the South, outside of politics, looked better off ...
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This chapter focuses on the progress of Reconstruction in the 1870s. The turmoil in the cotton South had lulled. For anyone possessed of the facts, the South, outside of politics, looked better off than at any time since before the war. The move towards peace and prosperity was made possible by the Democratic decision to drop Reconstruction as an issue. They realized that to win power, they must make their peace with the war and its aftermath.Less

Clasping Hands Over The Bloody Chasm

Mark Wahlgren Summers

Published in print: 2014-10-27

This chapter focuses on the progress of Reconstruction in the 1870s. The turmoil in the cotton South had lulled. For anyone possessed of the facts, the South, outside of politics, looked better off than at any time since before the war. The move towards peace and prosperity was made possible by the Democratic decision to drop Reconstruction as an issue. They realized that to win power, they must make their peace with the war and its aftermath.

This chapter describes the congressional elections in 1874, focusing on the battle between Democratic candidate Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York and Republican candidate Ohio governor Rutherford ...
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This chapter describes the congressional elections in 1874, focusing on the battle between Democratic candidate Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York and Republican candidate Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes. Intimidation, cheating, partisan election officers, and open fraud characterized the methods making a “Solid South” from Virginia and Tennessee south to the Gulf. Legal enactments had gerrymandered Republicans into hopeless congressional districts and disfranchised blacks by the tens of thousands. By 1881, Republicans had lost hope of retrieving much of the South. Yet for those who wanted proof of Reconstruction's lasting effect, the continued black turnout, particularly in presidential elections, afforded grounds for reassurance.Less

Last Full Measure of Defection

Mark Wahlgren Summers

Published in print: 2014-10-27

This chapter describes the congressional elections in 1874, focusing on the battle between Democratic candidate Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York and Republican candidate Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes. Intimidation, cheating, partisan election officers, and open fraud characterized the methods making a “Solid South” from Virginia and Tennessee south to the Gulf. Legal enactments had gerrymandered Republicans into hopeless congressional districts and disfranchised blacks by the tens of thousands. By 1881, Republicans had lost hope of retrieving much of the South. Yet for those who wanted proof of Reconstruction's lasting effect, the continued black turnout, particularly in presidential elections, afforded grounds for reassurance.